Mike -- that is a good point you have.
There is Driving the car and there is DRIVING the car, -- when you work with your local engine builder you want to verify the conditions you will use the motor.
Race only - Street/Track - Street/Street.
in this way they can tune and build to your expectations, this means going somewhat concervative on some items. This also has a benefit of being somewhat less expensive and more reliable and usable in the long run.
Eagle makes great rotating assemblies under your guidance , I personally like a 351W block with a cast steel rotating assembly, I beam rods with nice pistons (hyperteutec/or forged) that is a 4.00 / 4.030 bore with a 4.00 stroke, with good heads (175-180cc intakes, 64cc chambers like the X303 heads from ford )
I think with a nice intake on there - you can yield about 402ci and have low
oil consumption and be very happy with your motor.
Camshaft indexing is very important as well, you want to let your engine builder know if you intent to use the car below 2000 rpm. -- that way they can advance the cam a bit and make it tractable.
my 0.02 cents --
Steve